Welcome Back to Dauntless
by naterly19
Summary: Alyssa (Lyssa) Eaton - the daughter of Tris and Tobias Eaton - goes through Dauntless initiation as a Dauntless-born initiate.
1. Chapter 1

***Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent or any of the characters from it, no matter how amazing that would be.***

I pull myself into the train car as I've done my whole life. My best friends, Brooke and Stella, jump in after me. We sit together against the wall, the wind blowing our hair into our faces.

"Are you guys ready for the Choosing Ceremony?" I ask them. We've talked about the ceremony a lot, but I didn't know what else to say. Brooke nods her head excitedly.

"Of course!" Stella says. "How many transfers do you think we'll get this year?" I shrug my shoulders.

"Who knows," I reply. "It changes every year. I know that there were eleven the year my mother transferred to Dauntless. I've heard the story enough times to remember that much."

"We've heard it just as many times as you have!" Brooke exclaims. We all start laughing. My mother and father never got tired of telling us the story of how they met. I guess it was romantic, but after hearing it over and over again, it starts to sound a little bit less romantic.

Brooke, Stella, and I walk up the front steps of the Hub together, my hands shaking slightly from nerves. There are people from almost all of the factions piling into the small elevator. We walk past them all and sprint up the stairs to the twentieth floor. I get to the top first. Brooke and Stella reach the top a little bit after I do, gasping for breath.

"How… do… you… do… that… so… damn… fast?" Stella asks me in between breaths.

"Practice," I reply. "And a lot of exercise. Something that you could benefit from," I add, laughing. Stella rolls her eyes at me. A man from Abnegation is holding the door open as we walk into the room. I murmur a quiet thank-you to him as I pass. My mother always tells me that I have to be polite to people, so I try my hardest.

I am separated from Stella and Brooke as we get in line. It's organized alphabetically by last name, so I'm standing in between Dylan Eastwood from Erudite and Caroline Everhart from Dauntless. Stella is standing on Caroline's other side and Brooke is standing at the very front.

Once everyone is pretty much settled, the representative from Candor gets up on the podium and starts to speak. I tune him out until he starts to call out names in reverse alphabetical order.

"Alyssa Eaton," he finally calls. I stand up, clutching onto my black shirt so that no one could see my hands shaking. I walk towards the five bowls in the center of the room and hold out my left hand. The man from Candor hands me the knife and I cut my hand, watching as the blood quickly pools in my palm. I take a deep breath.

_Why am I so nervous?_ I think to myself. _I know what faction I want to be in._ I walk up to the bowl and turn my hand over, letting my crimson blood fall. The hot coals sizzle as the blood hits them, and it's all over. I'm done.

I walk over to stand next to Stella with the rest of the Dauntless initiates. I grip onto her arm as we watch the rest of the sixteen year-olds in the room pick their factions. Finally the man from Candor calls Brooke's name. She walks up to the front and takes the knife from the man. She cuts her and hesitates. _Walk over to the Dauntless bowl, Brooke._ I say in my head. Brooke turns her hand over, her blood staining the gray stones sitting in the Abnegation bowl.

Stella and I start sprinting when the train comes. We pull ourselves in and look out the door of the train, watching the transfers struggle to get in. One girl with red hair tries to pull herself into the car that Stella and I are in. She almost falls, but I grab her pale, freckled hand and yank her up into the car.

"Thanks," she says. "I was really worried that I wouldn't make it." I smile at her and Stella and I go to sit against the wall.

"I can't believe that Brooke switched to Abnegation," Stella says, sniffling a little bit. "I mean, come on, no one switches to _Abnegation_."

"I'm really going to miss her," I say. Stella nods her head in agreement. I watch the girl that I helped get into the train. She's standing against the wall watching the city go by. "Hey, red," I call. The girl looks up.

"Me?" she asks.

"Yes, you. I don't see any other redheads on this train, do you?" The girl shakes her head and walks over to sit next to me. "What's your name?" I ask her.

"I'm Avery," she says, introducing herself. "I switched from Amity."

"I figured, considering the fact that you're wearing a red dress. I'm Alyssa, but I much prefer Lyssa. This is my best friend, Stella." We ride in silence until I see the first person jump onto the roof. I smile to myself before I tell Avery to stand up.

"We have to jump now. Make sure you don't fall off." I grab Stella's hand and we get ready to jump off. "Just follow our lead," I say. Then I jump. I love the feeling of flying through the air before landing on the roof. Avery jumps out of the train after us, screaming. When she lands on the roof, she stands up and starts laughing.

"That was great!" she says. "When can I do it again?" I snort.

"Well if the part you liked was the jumping, you get to do it again pretty soon."

"All right, everyone!" Uriah shouts at us. "Settle down! For those of you who don't know me, I'm Uriah. Below us is the members' entrance to the Dauntless compound. To get there, you have to jump off of this ledge. Who wants to go first?"

No one volunteers. I roll my eyes. "I'll go!" I shout. Uriah sighs.

"Fine, Lyssa, you'll go first. Everyone watch." I step up to the ledge of the roof and look down into the darkness, taking a deep breath. Then I jump.

Above me I hear several gasps as I surge toward the ground. I hit the net at the bottom hard and roll over to the edge. I pull myself up out of the net and stand next to Will, the person who oversees the training of the transfers. Stella lands in the net and I help her onto the platform where I'm standing. I hear a shout as Avery falls onto the net.

Once everyone is off of the roof, Will starts to talk.

"Alright everyone. I'm Will, and this is Liam. I will be overseeing the training of our transfers and Liam will be overseeing the training of our Dauntless-born initiates. Follow me." We all follow him down a narrow tunnel until we stop. The transfers follow Will into the Pit and the Dauntless-born initiates stay behind with Liam.

"Alright," he says. "I'm glad to see that most of you are back. Let's go." We follow him into the darkness, and initiation begins.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi anyone who's reading this! I hope you all liked the first chapter. Okay, to clear up any confusion, Will from the original Divergent is still dead (I know, it's sad). The Will in my story is a different person. Enjoy chapter 2!**

***disclaimer* I don't own Divergent or any of the characters, they all belong to Veronica Roth**

* * *

"MOM! DAD! I'M HOME!" I shout when I walk in the front door of our apartment, slamming the door behind me.

"We're in here honey!" Mom shouts back. My cat, Ginger, slinks into the front hall and rubs up against my leg. I lean down, pick her up, and walk into the living room where my parents are sitting.

"How was the first day of initiation?" Dad asks me.

"Eh," I reply. "Why don't you guys ever eat in the dining hall? You'd think that you don't enjoy human company."

Mom shrugs. "We like the privacy of our home. Did you meet any of the transfers? I saw Christina earlier and she said that there are a lot this year."

"Yeah, I met one. She's from Amity. Her name is Avery."

"Was she nice?" Mom inquires.

"Yeah. She really likes all of the jumping off of stuff."

"That's nice," Mom says. "We have news for you!"

"Uh oh," I tease. "What's the news?" Mom and Dad both take a deep breath.

"I'm pregnant!" Mom suddenly exclaims.

"What?" I nearly shout.

"Yes, Lyssa, I'm pregnant. I found out this morning!"

"Pregnant? As in – you currently have a living almost but not quite yet human baby inside of you?" I ask her.

"Well, yes… I suppose that is one way of describing it."

"So we are no longer going to be a family of three and the cat. We will soon be a family of three, the cat, and a screaming child?"

"Yes, dear. Aren't you happy for me?" Mom asks me.

"Sure, Mom. Congrats," I say to her as sarcastically as I can. I walk into my room and shut the door behind me. I set Ginger down on the bed and lean back against my pillow. She curls up on my lap and I stare up at my ceiling. _How can Mom be pregnant?_ I think to myself. _I mean, come on! My parents don't want another kid, do they? They can't want another kid. They just can't._

I decide that the best thing to do will be to go see Stella. Whenever I need someone to talk to, she's the one I go to. I change into tight black pants, a tank top, and my favorite black army boots.

"Sorry, Ginger," I say to my cat, setting her down on my comforter. I twist my blonde hair into a bun and stick a pencil through it. "How do I look?" I ask the cat. She just stares at me with her big yellow eyes. I walk out of my bedroom. "I'm going to Stella's!" I shout to my parents.

"Okay, have fun!" Dad shouts back. "Tell Stella we say hello!" I pull on a jacket and walk out of the front door. I go down the dimly lit hallway until I get to the Pit. I look around. When I spot Stella's inky black hair in the crowd, I push my way through until I get to her.

"Hey, Lyssa," Stella says when I tap her shoulder. "What's up? I thought you said you were going home to rest for a while."

"Well I was, until I found out that my mother is pregnant." Stella's eyes widen.

"She's pregnant?" she asks me.

"Yup. Child on the way," I reply.

"Congratulations!" Stella says. I shrug my shoulders. "Hey," she says to me. "Wanna get a tattoo? Aiden, Charlotte, and I wanted to get one."

"Sure. Let's go," I say. We meet Aiden and Charlotte in front of the tattoo parlor. We all walk in together. I say hi to Johnny, one of the tattoo artists. Aiden gets a tattoo of the Dauntless symbol on his shoulder blade and Charlotte gets a tattoo of a butterfly on her ankle. Stella and I flip through the book, still trying to decide.

"What do you want to get?" she asks me.

"I'm not sure," I say. "My mom has the ravens, which I kind of like, but then again I don't want to match her. What do you want?"

"I think I'm going to get a heart. What do you think?"

"I think that it's going to look great," I reply. We walk over to a chair together and Johnny starts to tattoo Stella. She squeezes my hand the entire time. When it's over, Johnny puts a Band-Aid on it.

"So," Stella says. "What are you going to get?"

"I think I'll wait," I reply. "I just don't want one right now. Yours looks amazing though," I assure her. She smiles. "Come on," I say. "Let's go see if there's any chocolate cake left." Stella laughs.

"Okay, let's go."

_The next morning_

When I wake up in the morning, Ginger is sitting on my chest. I push her off and sit up. I go into my bathroom to shower and brush my teeth and hair. When I finish, I put on the same pants I wore the night before, a loose black t-shirt, and black sneakers.

"I'm leaving," I tell my parents. "Can you please feed Ginger? She's starving." I walk out of the door and head to the dining hall for breakfast. I sit down at a table with Stella, Charlotte, and Aiden. I look across the room and see Avery sitting at a table with a few other transfers. She waves, and I wave back. "How's the tattoo?" I ask Stella, taking a bite out of my blueberry muffin.

When she doesn't reply, I wave my hand in front of her face. "Hello? Earth to Stella!" I say to her. She looks at me.

"Oh, sorry, what did you say?" I sigh and roll my eyes.

"I asked how the tattoo was feeling."

"Oh, it's good. Who's that guy?" she asks. I turn around and look at the person that Stella is staring at. He's tall with dark brown hair that sweeps across his face. His eyes are so dark that they almost look black.

"I have no idea," I reply. "Let's find out."


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter 3! I hope you all like it!**

***Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent or any of the characters, locations, etc.***

* * *

I look at the blackboard in the training room and see my name is next to Stella's. So far, we're both ranked near the top. Liam calls the first pair to the mat.

"Jason and Emily? Please come up here. You two are going first today." Emily looks scared and Jason looks extremely confident. He's always been that way, and it's always annoyed me. They walk onto the mat and Emily lunges at Jason, knocking him to the ground. Jason stands up, all of the confidence wiped off of his face. _Thank you, Emily!_ I think to myself.

Jason punches Emily in the gut and she falls over. He towers over her and she kicks him. Her foot makes a satisfying thumping noise against his shin.

"Ow! Liam, is that allowed?" Jason whines. Liam just rolls his eyes. Emily jumps up and punches Jason in the jaw. A little bit a blood dribbles out of his mouth and he glares at Emily. She punches him again in the stomach and then kicks his feet out from under him. She kicks him in the side and he rolls up into a little ball.

"I give up! Emily, you win! Just please stop kicking me!" Jason says.

Liam sighs. "Okay, come on, Emily. I think that's enough for today." Emily walks off of the mat, a satisfied smirk on her small face. Jason walks over to his friends and sulks in the corner of the room.

"Okay," Liam says. "Stella, Lyssa, it's your turn." I glance at Stella and we walk up to the mat. I don't want to fight her, but I know that I have to if I want to get a good rank. We stand there for a minute, staring at each other. "Go ahead girls. Let's start today, please."

_Alright, Lyssa._ I tell myself. _You can do this. Just hit her!_ I'm about to punch Stella but her fist makes contact with my jaw. I shake it off and elbow her right in the stomach. She doubles over in pain and I kick her in the side of her face. _I'm sorry, Stella. I really am. But I have to do this, and you know it._ Maybe I can tell her that later.

She stands up and kicks my side. It hurts, but I won't give up. Not yet, at least. I duck her next punch and tackle her to the ground. I sit on top of her, pinning her skinny arms to the ground with my knees. She's stronger than I realized, and she rolls over, pinning me to the ground in the exact position I had her in five seconds ago. She punches me in the face and I feel the blood pouring from my nose.

I bring my knee up and hit her in the back. She twists in pain and I stand up. I hit her in the head again so hard, that I knock her out. _I'm so sorry, Stella! I hope you can forgive me for this._ Liam walks onto the mat and helps me lift Stella up.

"Good job, Lyssa," Liam says to me softly. "Next pair, go ahead. Don't be too rough on each other." We half drag, half carry Stella to the infirmary. When we finally get there, we put her down on one of the white beds. The infirmary is one of the only places in the Dauntless compound that isn't mostly black. "Get your ribs and your nose looked at while you're here. I'm going to head back now to make sure no one kills each other." I nod and Liam leaves me in the infirmary with an unconscious Stella.

A nurse finally comes in. "Hello," she says. "How can I help you?"

"We just came from training with Liam," I explain to her. "My friend Stella is unconscious and I think I broke a rib and maybe my nose."

"Okay, let me check you out and get some ice for your friend. I'll be right back. Just sit tight for a second." I nod and the nurse walks out. Stella's eyes flutter open.

"Did you knock me out, Lyssa?" Stella asks me. I bite my bottom lip.

"Yeah… I'm really sorry about that. Are you okay?" Stella laughs.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I didn't know you had it in you to knock out your best friend, though."

"I guess I did," I reply, smiling. The nurse comes back in. She hands the ice to Stella and gestures for me to stand up so she can check my ribs. I do, and she gently checks them. When she gets to the bottom rib on my left side, pain shoots through me. I inhale in shock and pain, so the nurse quickly pulls her hand back.

"Well, I think you broke that rib and your nose. I'll fix them up for you and you'll be good as new in no time." Her voice is a little bit too happy. She doesn't sound like she's working in an infirmary, she sounds like she just got a birthday present that she's wanted her entire life. I fake a smile.

"Great!" I say, packing as much sarcasm as I can into the little word. "Thank you _so_ much. Where would we be without great nurses such as you?" She obviously doesn't understand the sarcasm, because she smiles at me. I sigh and sit down on the bed next to Stella's. The mattress is as stiff as a board and very uncomfortable. _Oh well. The world isn't perfect._

I walk into the dining hall covered in bruises. It hurts just to breathe. I grab a hamburger and a slice of chocolate cake and sit down next to Stella, who is equally as bruised as I am. She's staring at her food which is sitting untouched on her plate.

"Stella," I say. "Are you okay?" she shakes her head slowly. "What's wrong?"

She turns to look at me. "Do you remember that promise we made when we were seven years old?" We had made that promise a long time ago, but I did remember it.

"Yeah, we promised that we could always trust each other, no matter what. Why do you ask?"

"I want to tell you something, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. Promise?" she asks me.

"Of course, yeah," I say. "What do you want to tell me?" Stella hesitates.

"Well, um… okay." Stella lowers her voice so I'm the only one who can hear her. "Yesterday I went to stand by the chasm, just to think for a minute. You know how I do that sometimes. Well, while I was standing there, I heard some people talking. One of the voices sounded really familiar, so I kind of… well I kind of spied on the people who were talking. You'll never guess who it was."

"No, I won't guess. Who was it?" Stella takes a deep breath.

"It was that new guy we saw yesterday. And Brooke. I think it's her brother."


End file.
